Categories
dragons
ego
Fear, awareness, meditation
feeling better, emotions, awareness breath
mindfulness, happiness, contentment
mindfulness, meditation, thoughts, contentment
Radio, interviews, mindfulness, Buddhism, compassion, schools
space happiness mindfulness
thoughts
|
My Blog
Fear, awareness, meditation
|
Suryacitta: Posted on Wednesday, April 04, 2012 9:53 AM
There is never enough
As we sit in meditation we begin to see all the stories the mind conjures up to distract usfrom being present with life as it is.
The ego mind hatesbeing with life as it is, because the egoisthe resistance to how life is in this present moment. If there is no struggle then this allows us to see the ego for what it is - a belief in a separate self that seems to exist somewhere inside the body and needs to keep churning out stories about how life should be, used to be and could be. |
|
|
Suryacitta: Posted on Thursday, March 08, 2012 12:29 PM
I am asked many questions about mindfulness on the courses I run, but all who ask are really asking the same question, perhaps in different ways - will meditation help me feel better? We all, no matter who it is want to feel good. My response to that question is - it's up to you. What I mean is that we need to know what it is that makes us feel good. If we think that feeling good means never being sad and afraid then no it won't help us feel good. If our attitude is to keep anything uncomfortable out of awareness then again mindfulness will not help us feel better. |
Fear, awareness, meditation, mindfulness, happiness, contentment, thoughts, mindfulness, meditation, thoughts, contentment, feeling better, emotions, awareness breath
|
|
|
|
Suryacitta: Posted on Monday, October 31, 2011 1:59 PM
Meditation is finding out who we are, not about floating of into
some imaginary pink cloud.
As we
bring awareness to our lives we notice that
this sense of self which is always needing something is actually a mental construct that exists only in
our heads. It is the belief in this
self that makes us feel separate from life and so we endeavour desperately to find meaning in it as
compensation.
Whilst we are trying to find meaning to our life, we miss life. We turn from the wonder of life in all its
glory to worrying about it because it's
not going as we expect it to from the viewpoint of our own personal fears and desires. We try desperately to get
life to give us meaning and happiness,
when actually our life must be be an expression of meaning, and an expression of our happiness. |
|
|
Suryacitta: Posted on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 9:48 AM
 I came across a lovely term recently - back to one. When I heard it I thought what a beautiful way to approach meditation, what a beautiful way to approach life.
What I mean in meditation is that whenever we get confused, doubting ourselves, becoming critical or restless, we come back to one. One here is both the number one and a metaphor for being at home in the present moment.
For example, if we are counting our breath and we have wandered (and by the way we will wander and it is absolutely OK) we come back to ONE and begin again. |
|
|
Suryacitta: Posted on Monday, October 17, 2011 4:26 PM
The Silent Mind We
could say that to have a silent mind is what meditation is really about. It is
the source of joy, wisdom, compassion and creativity and is the end of sorrow
as we know it. But what is a silent mind and how do weget one?
A
silent mind is not a blank mind where nothing ever happens. It is not a mind
where we do not have any thoughts and feelings. It is not fuzzy, it's not a
dull mind where we cannot think
straight.
A
silent mind is a mind that is alive, it is a mind that is clear and unclouded
by fear and craving. |
|
|
Suryacitta: Posted on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 9:34 AM
Dancing
with Dragons How
could we forget those ancient myths that stand at the beginning of all races –
the myths about dragons that at the last moment are transformed into
princesses. Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are only princesses waiting
for us to act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that
frightens us is, in the deepest essence, something helpless that wants our
love.So
you must not be frightened if sadness arises before you larger than you have
ever seen, if an anxiety like light and cloud shadows moves over your hands and
everything you do. |
|
|
Suryacitta: Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 9:31 PM
MINDFULNESS OF SELF
AND WORLD
The one
thing that had brought our planet to the edge of disaster is that the vast
majority of us are self-centred. This is not a judgement about us being bad
people, it is the way we are wired. Without some form of serious spiritual
practice most of us stay this way too. So the way to truly care for our world
is to move from a self-centred mode of existence, to a life-centred mode of
existence and this is what mindfulness is all about.
Being
self-centred we are caught up with our own desires, our own views and our own opinions. |
|
|
Suryacitta: Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 10:18 PM
 The Ultimate Medicine
When we are ill we may go to the doctors for medicine. The
medicine may not be very nice, in fact it may hurt more than our symptoms. But
we trust the doctor and we have faith that the medicine will help us get well.
This is similar to mindfulness, it does not always feel good, but eventually
with patient practice we get well and happier - we can trust in the inherent
goodness of mindful awareness.
However this is where most of us find difficult - to trust
in awareness. We feel the need to change what we are aware of, or to get rid of
it if it's painful or get more of it if it's pleasant. With mindful awareness
practice we leave everything just as it is. We have no agenda - if an itch
arises we watch it, if it's the sound of a ca in the background we just listen.
If it's fear, anger, joy we allow it to take its rightful place. Nothing is
resisted nothing is sought after. |
|
|
Suryacitta: Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 1:13 PM
Never turn away – an act of love
 All of us to varying degrees have aspects of ourselves that
we either don’t like, are ashamed of, or are afraid of. If you think you don’t
then you are either very spiritually mature or you don’t know yourself very
well.
Normally we keep all these parts of ourselves well hidden
from ourselves and others. However, they leek out in various ways. It may be
covert behaviour, sneaky remarks, gossiping, or anger that we don’t want others
to see. We keep these hidden because we have a view of ourselves and these
aspects don’t fit in with that view. |
|
|
Suryacitta: Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 4:15 AM
The Tyranny of Time
What is this thing called time? We seem to know it so well, we organise our lives around it and it seems so real. But time isn’t a thing it does not exist as an entity in its own right. It is simply an idea in our head. It is a useful idea but only that. It is a concept we all share so we can live together in an organised and efficient way. If we didn’t have the concept of time they would be complete chaos – the trains would be late and that wouldn’t do!
Our relationship to the concept of time is what is important. |
|
|
|
|
